The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of a food coating, more particularly to the preparation of a crumb coating.
In the preparation of frozen breaded food products such as fish, poultry, meat, crepes, etc., a food portion is generally coated with a batter, breaded, then cooked by deep-fat frying, cooled and finally deep-frozen. When required for consumption, the food product is usually heated in an oven to thaw it and cook it before serving. However, not only is deep fat frying messy and expensive but there is also a substantial loss of moisture which reduces the yield. In addition, in such a procedure the whole food product is cooked twice, once by deep-fat frying and once by oven heating: this double cooking causes the food product to lose its desirable crispiness and flavour. If, on the other hand, the deep-fat frying step is omitted so that the only cooking step is carried out by the consumer when heating in the oven, the coating does not adhere satisfactorily to the food portion, has an unattractive appearance and lacks the characteristic deep fried flavour, colour and crispiness.